_One of the coolest things for me about doing this blog has been the opening it gives me to talk shop with lots of people I might not have gotten to chat with otherwise. When Steve and I headed down to Chattaboogie last month, I made the acquaintance of a thirtysomething Nashville dancer by the name of Dan Kappus. The conversation went something along the lines of noting that crossover contra in general seems to be a younger phenomenon, and rather popular where they pop up (as anyone who went to the techno contra at the Flurry in New York last weekend can attest), but interestingly have comparatively few people organizing them in the contra community. He had some things to say about the techno contra movement -- and frankly, some things about organization in contra dance events, period -- that I thought were rather interesting. With his permission, I am reproducing several of his comments here.

When I read about the “Hip-Hop Contra” that had taken place at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine a couple of years back, I was intrigued. Many of the crossover contras I had read about to this point had been using pop or techno music rather exclusively. How would the vibe change if you changed up the music genre and used hip-hop as well? Fortunately, caller Chrissy Fowler had some of the answers for me when I contacted her.

Jordy Williams’s name is one that has become synonymous with techno contras down in the Asheville contra community in North Carolina, as well as up and down the East Coast. His particular brand of techno contras are noted for including some of the sex appeal of the nightclub culture, rather than merely evoking that scene with the music and lighting as in a few other communities where these have taken root.

“I started organizing the first one in the spring of 2009,” he says. The first techno contra event he organized was on June 10, 2009 at the Asheville Contemporary Dance Studio. “It's a little hole in the wall in Downtown Asheville. We had about 70-80 people and it was completely stuffed. It was cool though cuz [sic] it was in a basement so it had low ceilings (which gave it a cool underground feeling) and mirrors lining one wall.”

“The first one was inspired by a small handful of poorly executed techno contras that left me wanting it done right.”

This project has concluded as of mid-2013 (with an epilogue posted mid-2016) but we hope to see you soon on a contra dance floor! Meanwhile, head over to our Facebook page for upcoming techno contra events and other items of interest.

Author

I dance with abandon. I play with glowsticks. I look for music that is conducive to one or both. I play behind cameras. I write about all of the above. I'm based in Glen Echo's contra dance community outside of Washington, D.C., but I'm happy to go dance afield when I can. Lather, rinse, repeat. Always repeat.